Develop Bugs

[Q] [How To] Replacing micro SDcard (rooted)

Hello!
I'm running Eclair on my DEFY, it's rooted via z4root.
I currently hold a 2GB microSD card and, as the volume of the apps is getting higher, I wish to upgrade to a 16GB microSD (a SunDisk one).
But I'm wondering if there's more to do then simply copy the apps to a temporary directory on my pc then fill in the new card.
Anyone has yet upgraded?
--- edit: made a deep search on the forum and find out I need a class 6/8 microSD, then I have to format prior to copy up everything that was on the old microSD.
Anything else should I know?
Cheers,
C*

Nothing special to do.
Just copy your actual SD contents on the new one and Go!
I went from the 2GB for a 8GB like this without any tricks...
etherea said:
--- edit: made a deep search on the forum and find out I need a class 6/8 microSD, then I have to format prior to copy up everything that was on the old microSD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Class 6/8 is not needed, my 8GB is a Class2 and it work absolutly fine!
For apps the data rate ofthe SD is not really important, 'cause u'll never load large amount off data each time. And SD card are still very very very slow against RAM.
Flash memory have good random access time, that's much important than data rate.
Good data rate are only for large file transfert from/to an other device (PC, etc)
Last thing: by default le SD is not use for app installation on the defy, they use the 2GB internal memory.
You should use some App2Sd for extend this, and it's better to have Android 2.2 then.

Apps in android 2.1 arent stored on the sd card without a mod available on this phone yet.
Instead it is stored on the 2gb internal memory which should be pleanty for lots of apps

Le_Poilu said:
Nothing special to do.
Just copy your actual SD contents on the new one and Go!
I went from the 2GB for a 8GB like this without any tricks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fine, I thought there were some special "needings", I was stuck to the Motorola A1210 that was a bit tricly because of some apps hidden here and there on the microSD.
Le_Poilu said:
Last thing: by default le SD is not use for app installation on the defy, they use the 2GB internal memory.
You should use some App2Sd for extend this, and it's better to have Android 2.2 then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the major part of the apps is installed on the microSD, I've checked several times and the percentage is so parted:
Apps/Things on the microSD 85%
Apps/Things on the Phone 23%
I'm not using any program to move stuff, but I'm intrigued by App2SD.
So thanks again =)

add.thebad said:
Apps in android 2.1 arent stored on the sd card without a mod available on this phone yet.
Instead it is stored on the 2gb internal memory which should be pleanty for lots of apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said in the previous reply, I can see stuff is stored on the microSD mainly..

No just copy the stuff from you old card to the new one. And as for class 6/8 I'm using a class 4 and its fine

etherea=> dont mix apps installation et apps data
The apps files are installed on the internal memory, but every app can use SD (intern or extern, whatever is present on the phone) for store datas.
Think about GPS software. This kind of soft need 1, 2 or more GB for maps storage.
The apps itself is on the "apps" space on the internal memory and all the maps stuff are on SD (intern or extern)
You can use software like diskusages to see what is where

etherea said:
As said in the previous reply, I can see stuff is stored on the microSD mainly..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps are not stored on the sd, however some apps data is.

Well thank you both, I still need to read a lot about the phone and aout Android but your answers did clarify a bit =)

Then, I upgraded to a 8GB SanDisk microSD with no problem.
The only minor issue was a duplicate of a couple of non-vital directories and related data, which were wiped out almost in a second.
Everything's working fine and have now much more space to fill in =)
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and hints!

Guys I'm about to replace my micro sd with Kingston 16gb class 4 but, don't laugh , I cant remove the old one. What do i do? There is a red plastic thingy so i guess it holds it, but do i pull it or what ? Sorry for the dump question.

Deyan_pk said:
Guys I'm about to replace my micro sd with Kingston 16gb class 4 but, don't laugh , I cant remove the old one. What do i do? There is a red plastic thingy so i guess it holds it, but do i pull it or what ? Sorry for the dump question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to pull it up?
It's a bit hard to get removed, try with a fine stick, I made it using my nails =)

[Q] Internal-External Memory Swap: useful or not?

Hi
I have a Samsung Galaxy W, and you know that this device has such a little memory for apps and games.
I bought a 16 gb class 10 external sd and I was wonder if the memory swap mod could be a really useful operation.
I'm not usual to install lots of applications and games, (I really use only social apps) however sometimes I like to play some heavy-data games. So I need a help: do you suggest me to keep the sd as a default external memory, maybe trying to move the heavier apps in this external space with link2sd and other stuff, or it would be better to make the swap and then make the sd recognized as internal memory?
I read that sometimes the swap operation causes lags and some other stuff, so I need your opinions and suggests.
Thanks in advice

Some custom ROMs automatically swap /sdcard/ with /sdcard/external_sd/
You could try that, it's a great solution IMHO.
Did you try "GL to SD(root)"? Download it from the market... It just mount the external SD as the sdcard, but temporarily. And it also moves game data to external SD.
Sent from my GT-I8150 using XDA on CyanogenMod 9

Also bugs me as well. I just bought 32gb class 10 card and i am using cow bionic 2 rom. But i already changed the vold.fstab folder back to stock. I would be the same not a heavy app storer. If i dont use the app any more i delete it.
But supposedly if you have a class 10 card you should not experience any lag if you have the swap done?? How true this is i dont know

maybe i'll find this useful for heavy data games like generation of chaos or other apps/games that install themselves on the internal storage and not on the sd card, other than that, i seriously don't know what other advantage it can provide

Of course, swapping is a good solution for huge games data storing on external sd and u own a class 10 sd card which is fast enough for swapping. However, this may cause problem when u want to remove sd card as most of the apps are stored on it.
GL to sd is a better solution to me personally. I wrote a similar script instead of using GL to sd. This mounts certain paths to ur external sd card while keeping other important apps such as launcher, theme, widgets, on the internal sd.

yewsiong said:
Of course, swapping is a good solution for huge games data storing on external sd and u own a class 10 sd card which is fast enough for swapping. However, this may cause problem when u want to remove sd card as most of the apps are stored on it.
GL to sd is a better solution to me personally. I wrote a similar script instead of using GL to sd. This mounts certain paths to ur external sd card while keeping other important apps such as launcher, theme, widgets, on the internal sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Care to explain about the script you wrote. Also whats GL?? I wouldnt use any big games so no point in me swapping. But if any roms i flash to the phone has this done ill not bother changing it back to stock. Also is class 10 not the highest micro sd card you can get??

snwman said:
Care to explain about the script you wrote. Also whats GL?? I wouldnt use any big games so no point in me swapping. But if any roms i flash to the phone has this done ill not bother changing it back to stock. Also is class 10 not the highest micro sd card you can get??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, class 10 is the fastest writing speed for MicroSD at this moment.
I used script manager to create a script for mounting and give it SU and set it on boot. It is very simple.
Create a new script file and type the following:
(I used the Android folder as example)
Code:
mount -o bind sdcard/external_sd/Android sdcard/Android
This is for gameloft
Code:
mount -o bind sdcard/external_sd/gameloft sdcard/gameloft
After creating these, u need to cut the files in Android or gameloft from internal sdcard and paste them to the new location on external sd. Leave the original folders empty.
Remember to set them "boot" and "su".
enjoy
Edit: if u download any other games that stores its data in Android folder, it will automatically move to ur external sd card as the script has mounted the path to external sd since every boot.

yewsiong said:
Of course, swapping is a good solution for huge games data storing on external sd and u own a class 10 sd card which is fast enough for swapping. However, this may cause problem when u want to remove sd card as most of the apps are stored on it.
GL to sd is a better solution to me personally. I wrote a similar script instead of using GL to sd. This mounts certain paths to ur external sd card while keeping other important apps such as launcher, theme, widgets, on the internal sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
However, this may cause problem when u want to remove sd card as most of the apps are stored on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But, in a swap situation, on the Wonder, Apps are not moved to External SD Card........
without swap they are moved to /sdcard/external_sd/.android_secure folder
with swap, moved Apps should be on re-mapped internal SD, so removing SD Card should not have any effect on Apps...
of course App Data should be on External [Removable] SD Card...re-mapped as /sdcard
It seems to me, for game players, Game Loft, etc.....Gl to SD is the ideal solution....****see also EDIT below****
Video for Wonder Here:
****EDIT: Just to say, yewsiong script looks good for gamers, etc.....****

It's pretty useful if you're an avid gamer. Some games usually reach 400mb+. But if not, you could still use it for storing music and videos.

saphiecor said:
It's pretty useful if you're an avid gamer. Some games usually reach 400mb+. But if not, you could still use it for storing music and videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which solution do you mean......
see yewsiong post here

irishpancake said:
Which solution do you mean......
see yewsiong post here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he meant without swapping, external sd can still be used as data, music, pics, etc. storage.

Go for it!
IMHO I see no cons whatsoever in performing the SD Card swap, just pros. I got my 32Gb Class 10 just for the swap... Check my signature links to see what I've done to my SGW...

a.fontenele said:
IMHO I see no cons whatsoever in performing the SD Card swap, just pros. I got my 32Gb Class 10 just for the swap... Check my signature links to see what I've done to my SGW...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I followed the method outlined in your signature (http://latgale.co.uk/?p=70) and now I can see about 15GB (I have a 16GB class 10 SD) available for apps on SD.
However, when I try to move an app to the SD by using App2SD, the app doesn't go to the 15GB partition. How do you do?
Thanks a lot.

[.::MDT::.] said:
Hi,
I followed the method outlined in your signature (http://latgale.co.uk/?p=70) and now I can see about 15GB (I have a 16GB class 10 SD) available for apps on SD.
However, when I try to move an app to the SD by using App2SD, the app doesn't go to the 15GB partition. How do you do?
Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... This is something I haven't found a solution for. Whenever you try to move an app, it goes to the USB Storage. Since we swapped memories, the app will be moved to the 1.7GB memory. For me it'd be great to have everything in the Micro SD card, the 1.7 GB memory is useless to me...

a.fontenele said:
Yeah... This is something I haven't found a solution for. Whenever you try to move an app, it goes to the USB Storage. Since we swapped memories, the app will be moved to the 1.7GB memory. For me it'd be great to have everything in the Micro SD card, the 1.7 GB memory is useless to me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's a real pity! :crying:
I wonder what's the point of doing so, if the memory available for the apps still remains the 1,7GB partition... why swapping partitions then?
Do you have any idea if there is any ROM that lets you install apps in the "bigger partition" (the 14,3 GB according to the example above) or are you aware of any other possible solution?
Thanks.

[.::MDT::.] said:
Yeah, that's a real pity! :crying:
I wonder what's the point of doing so, if the memory available for the apps still remains the 1,7GB partition... why swapping partitions then?
Do you have any idea if there is any ROM that lets you install apps in the "bigger partition" (the 14,3 GB according to the example above) or are you aware of any other possible solution?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But, as I said before here ad nauseam, the External Physical SD Card is where Apps moved by App2SD are designed to go......so before doing a vold.fstab mount point swap, ppl should ask themselves.......
Do I really need a gigantic Internal USB Storage at [/mnt/sdcard], for what reason do I need this??
I think myself, that this is only useful for those who require to have Storage requirements for certain Games and GPS Maps Storage, etc, which do not have a built-in ability to store data on the External Physical SD Card [/mount/sdcard/external_sd]....but there are other ways to achieve this!!!
BTW, the Tutorial linked http://latgale.co.uk/?p=70 is by Eric Pīgoznis, who posted here in the very early days!!!

First of all, thanks a lot for your answer!
irishpancake said:
But, as I said before here ad nauseam, the External Physical SD Card is where Apps moved by App2SD are designed to go......so before doing a vold.fstab mount point swap, ppl should ask themselves.......
Do I really need a gigantic Internal USB Storage at [/mnt/sdcard], for what reason do I need this??
I think myself, that this is only useful for those who require to have Storage requirements for certain Games and GPS Maps Storage, etc, which do not have a built-in ability to store data on the External Physical SD Card [/mount/sdcard/external_sd]....but there are other ways to achieve this!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's exactly what I would like to have!
I bought a 16GB card to install many maps and games, but I quickly ran out of memory so I cannot add anymore apps (without removing already installed apps of course).
That's why I would like to use my SD card for apps - if possible of course!
And it's a pity I have 15GB free (for what? Just my music/video/pictures?) and I cannot use this space for apps.
What are the other ways to achieve this you mentioned?
It'd be really helpful!
irishpancake said:
BTW, the Tutorial linked http://latgale.co.uk/?p=70 is by Eric Pīgoznis, who posted here in the very early days!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I found the same instructions on this forum, you're right...

hmm
Swapping Internal/External is the most important for those HD gamers :good:

irishpancake said:
But, as I said before here ad nauseam, the External Physical SD Card is where Apps moved by App2SD are designed to go......so before doing a vold.fstab mount point swap, ppl should ask themselves.......
Do I really need a gigantic Internal USB Storage at [/mnt/sdcard], for what reason do I need this??
I think myself, that this is only useful for those who require to have Storage requirements for certain Games and GPS Maps Storage, etc, which do not have a built-in ability to store data on the External Physical SD Card [/mount/sdcard/external_sd]....but there are other ways to achieve this!!!
BTW, the Tutorial linked http://latgale.co.uk/?p=70 is by Eric Pīgoznis, who posted here in the very early days!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dhada said:
Swapping Internal/External is the most important for those HD gamers :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree... any news about that then?
Thanks a lot!

I'm stumped

Hi everybody. I am trying to get my daughters phone set up. She is 20, very busy, and I only get the phone an hour or so at a time which is frustrating. I have modded my own android phones(Note, Infuse,Gnex) so I'm not a beginner, but this captivate glide is acting a little different.
Here is where I am. CWM is installed and a backup of 2.3.6 is done, and a copy saved on my laptop. I have ardatdat's 1.2 version kernel ready to flash for root and to remove the IQcarrier junk. She will probably stay on stock, rooted since she is not into teching her phone but does want to remove ads and maybe tether to a tablet occasionally on ATT without a tethering plan- tit BU and freezing or removing the tethering manager.
I am having trouble getting the phone to recognize an 8 gb sd card. I have repartitioned it so more apps can be moved over(primary fat32 and logical-ext 2) and split the card to 4gb and 4gb.(approx)- even when just left as a one partition card with 8gb fat 32 the phone just won't recognize it. I put the old 2gb card into the phone and that one is recognized but is from a non android phone- an LG xenon.
I want to put the zip files to flash on the external sd card along with a few apk's ti install with the appinstaller. But.. the phone won't see the files. Do I have to use the internal storage?????
Don't have the phone now- it's off to work with her. So I will try later tonite. Any suggestions??
Thanks. Open for any help here. I have never had this much trouble before! Have searched for sideloading apk's, but from what I am finding it has to be rooted first??? I have checked unknown sources for install of 3rd party apps and usb debugging also checked.
I will continue my hunting for info. I'm sure it's just basic stuff I'm just not seeing. Thanks again

Ah. CWM Recovery is not compatible with the external sd card, I believe. It's located under /sdcard/external_sd but the zips are invisible in the recovery. So yes, I think you have to use internal

Aquethys said:
Ah. CWM Recovery is not compatible with the external sd card, I believe. It's located under /sdcard/external_sd but the zips are invisible in the recovery. So yes, I think you have to use internal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. Did not read that anywhere! Any idea about apks on the external sd card?

Ive tried that too... The apps are located in the data partition on the kernel so that is already directed to internal... The only things most people put are Media like movies because music players scan the entire /sdcard partition and the /external_sd is in it.
Hope this helped ^o^
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927R using xda premium

sashusmom said:
I am having trouble getting the phone to recognize an 8 gb sd card. I have repartitioned it so more apps can be moved over(primary fat32 and logical-ext 2) and split the card to 4gb and 4gb.(approx)- even when just left as a one partition card with 8gb fat 32 the phone just won't recognize it. I put the old 2gb card into the phone and that one is recognized but is from a non android phone- an LG xenon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may need to format the sd card in the phone itself to get it to show up, some people have had problems with cards formatted in other devices or a pc.
I haven't tried a dual partition card in the Glide, but I came from a Motorola Flipside which had an absolutely tiny amount of space for apps, making link2sd and the second partition virtually mandatory. The Glide, however, has 2gb internal memory for apps, and the ~3.75gb internal memory that's mounted as /sdcard that you can store apps on with the standard Move to SD build into android, so I can't imagine anyone needing more storage than that for standard apps.
You can always points Titanium Backup to /sdcard/external_sd, my backup folder tends to get pretty big since I keep multiple backups. If she's installing a ton of games that have extra downloads to the sdcard though, you can fill up the internal "sd card" pretty quickly, and there's only a couple of ways to deal with that. She can give you the phone after installing those games and downloading the extra data, and you can manually move the data over to the external SD and create symlinks yourself, which can be tedious.
Alternatively, you can modify the vold.fstab to change the mount points, putting the real external sd as /sdcard and the internal storage as /sdcard/external_sd. There's instructions for this here. The vold.fstab method is what I personally use, as I've got a 32gb sd card and far too many games that want to download 500mb+ each.

bakageta said:
You may need to format the sd card in the phone itself to get it to show up, some people have had problems with cards formatted in other devices or a pc.
I haven't tried a dual partition card in the Glide, but I came from a Motorola Flipside which had an absolutely tiny amount of space for apps, making link2sd and the second partition virtually mandatory. The Glide, however, has 2gb internal memory for apps, and the ~3.75gb internal memory that's mounted as /sdcard that you can store apps on with the standard Move to SD build into android, so I can't imagine anyone needing more storage than that for standard apps.
You can always points Titanium Backup to /sdcard/external_sd, my backup folder tends to get pretty big since I keep multiple backups. If she's installing a ton of games that have extra downloads to the sdcard though, you can fill up the internal "sd card" pretty quickly, and there's only a couple of ways to deal with that. She can give you the phone after installing those games and downloading the extra data, and you can manually move the data over to the external SD and create symlinks yourself, which can be tedious.
Alternatively, you can modify the vold.fstab to change the mount points, putting the real external sd as /sdcard and the internal storage as /sdcard/external_sd. There's instructions for this here. The vold.fstab method is what I personally use, as I've got a 32gb sd card and far too many games that want to download 500mb+ each.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi and thanks. I just read about that mod. Is it as straightforward as just rewriting that file in rootexplorer? It sounds too easy!
I was gonna format the sd card in the phone but was not sure it would format the internal card and not the external one since I can't seem to get it recognized. I would be in big do do if I erased her stuff!!! It might be a bad card and I'll try an alternate one.

Yep, it's really as easy as snagging the file, editing it, and rewriting it in root explorer (or a shell, I haven't bought root explorer so I tend to do things from the shell). As for formatting in the phone, it should list both an SD card and USB storage, the usb storage is the internal storage, and the sd card is actually the sd card, it *should* have a format option there if the card is good, even if it's not seeing the files on it.

Thank you all!!!!!
bakageta said:
Yep, it's really as easy as snagging the file, editing it, and rewriting it in root explorer (or a shell, I haven't bought root explorer so I tend to do things from the shell). As for formatting in the phone, it should list both an SD card and USB storage, the usb storage is the internal storage, and the sd card is actually the sd card, it *should* have a format option there if the card is good, even if it's not seeing the files on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Piece of cake!!!!! :highfive: We now have the external sd card (only 8gb for now) mounted instead. Whoever came up with that very clever work around is genius. That's better than apps2sd or link2sd.
Thank you so much to everyone who responded. Between all of you I have Rooted with the kernel on the internal card, and the appinstaller saw the apks when I put them on the internal card. My original 8gb card was bad. It was a cheap one- $5 or $8 dollars. I got 2 and the 2nd one works fine- formatted in my computer and phone saw it immediately. I transferred the stuff from the internal to the external. Did I need to do that? I left it on the internal incase the sd card is removed. Tethering manager is removed- att junk is frozen.
One more question if I may? If another rom is flashed, or I odin back to stock for whatever reason, does this sd card switch stay, or is it overwritten with the new rom? Just need to know what to do if I ever need to reset this phone.
I also added my google account to the market to put my paid apps on her phone but when I signed in to the play store under my account my paid apps did not show as paid. Anyone know why? I worked around it but I was surprised.
Again thanks to such a nice group of people! :highfive: I had a crash course in the captivate glide in 24 hrs. You gave me info here I don't think I could have found with continued searching.

sashusmom said:
I transferred the stuff from the internal to the external. Did I need to do that? I left it on the internal incase the sd card is removed. Tethering manager is removed- att junk is frozen.
One more question if I may? If another rom is flashed, or I odin back to stock for whatever reason, does this sd card switch stay, or is it overwritten with the new rom? Just need to know what to do if I ever need to reset this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moving everything that was on the internal memory to the SD card was a good call, since you swapped the mount points everything that stored stuff on the internal memory will now expect that stuff to be on the sd card. There's no need to keep it on the internal memory (you can delete everything there and it'll recreate LOST.DIR) unless you plan on swapping back at any point, in which case you could just copy stuff across before swapping back.
As for flashing another rom, that'll require you edit the vold.fstab again unless the rom has already made that change, which none of our existing roms have.
Personally, I keep the internal memory completely empty as far as daily use things go. CWR will store its backups there, as it mounts the memory independently of the vold.fstab, and all roms/kernels/etc you want to flash can go there, leaving the sd card free for things you actually use.

Bak- thank you so much for all the info. I saved the original file and I will make a copy of the edited mount file in case I need it again. If I ever get her phone back I will clear the internal card since that info is now on the external one.
I wonder how long this captivate glide will hold up with my daughter. She is very hard on her cell phones. Already case #1 broke due to a drop. 2 more are on the way. When I pointed out it could have been the phone broken she said- yeah, I know. I'll keep the case on. :victoryshe hates cases!) Hopefully this phone will get her thru her senior year in college!
Thank you everyone who pitched in to get me the info I needed to get it going. :laugh:

[Q] Newbie ?:Have a nice 64GB SD Card - How to use?

Another Newbie Question here.
So AT&T only provides the 16MB Note 2, so of course we add a nice juicy 64GB SD card. But it seems that the stock phone does not really use it for much (that I can tell) to store anything.
First question: On the stock ROM, what apps can be told to use the SD card as default, and how do you change the app settings?
Second Question, for the future: Assuming one Root's the Note 2, what can be safely moved to the SD and how? Or is another ROM required?
Humbly yours - thanks in advance!

Flame Red said:
Another Newbie Question here.
So AT&T only provides the 16MB Note 2, so of course we add a nice juicy 64GB SD card. But it seems that the stock phone does not really use it for much (that I can tell) to store anything.
First question: On the stock ROM, what apps can be told to use the SD card as default, and how do you change the app settings?
Second Question, for the future: Assuming one Root's the Note 2, what can be safely moved to the SD and how? Or is another ROM required?
Humbly yours - thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have a 64gb card. I put all of my Titanium backups and Nandroids on the external SD (right now TWRP doesn't work with the exfat formatting of my card, so if I want to restore I'll have to move it from ext to int SD).
I also have Spotify set to store any offline music on the external SD. You can do this by installing an old version of Spotify, pointing it to external SD, then updating the app. A quick Google search will find this if it's something you want to do.
It's hard to tell you what to move to the external card without knowing what apps you use. You can get an app called Directory Bind that will point any internal SD location to your external SD. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1889550

SD card setup/directory optimization
Really like Android and the Note 2 so far.
Thanks for the directory bind guide link...interesting. Maybe my answer is somewhere in there, so I will take a look either way.
New to external SD use on Android as well (or any phone, that is). I have a 64GB sandisk as well, and It was pre-formatted for Android apparently with some s/w on it. Which is fine, if that is the way I should go.
Just playing around with it at first and copied a music album over, in similar format to my iTunes directory structure -I figured, why not. Perhaps there is a better way to structure my directories though? More general way for all apps to recognize? Moot point?
I assume different apps might require different directory structures...to be efficient, or to be able to work with those dirs/files. I'd rather have the most optimal structure now, before I start messing with creating more directories, etc down the road.
The general questions are, should I format this as something else? What is best to use? (Still looking into different file manager/transfer apps for now, and MAY root and keep stock ROM in the future, but acclimating myself with Android OS has been more than enough for now...I do enough Linux at work, so not in any rush )
Since I went there, I don't know if the OP's question was fully answered...so again, here's a quick (newbie) question for those who root but keep the stock ROM: can apps be moved to the SD card in that case? Or do I need to break out of stock ROM to do that?
Thanks in advance!

Wanted to report back that I tried a simple case of using Directory Bind for something non-critical as a test. Used it to remount Titaniumn Backup to the external SD. Yes, I know you can just point it there. Just wanted to test Directory Bind.
It seemed to work until I rebooted the phone. Then it lost all the binding even tough I had checked off to save it for reboot and saved the binds to a file. So just beware that if you were using Directory Bind for something critical - you might have to recover the phone! I removed the package for now.

dponte said:
Really like Android and the Note 2 so far.
Thanks for the directory bind guide link...interesting. Maybe my answer is somewhere in there, so I will take a look either way.
New to external SD use on Android as well (or any phone, that is). I have a 64GB sandisk as well, and It was pre-formatted for Android apparently with some s/w on it. Which is fine, if that is the way I should go.
Just playing around with it at first and copied a music album over, in similar format to my iTunes directory structure -I figured, why not. Perhaps there is a better way to structure my directories though? More general way for all apps to recognize? Moot point?
I assume different apps might require different directory structures...to be efficient, or to be able to work with those dirs/files. I'd rather have the most optimal structure now, before I start messing with creating more directories, etc down the road.
The general questions are, should I format this as something else? What is best to use? (Still looking into different file manager/transfer apps for now, and MAY root and keep stock ROM in the future, but acclimating myself with Android OS has been more than enough for now...I do enough Linux at work, so not in any rush )
Since I went there, I don't know if the OP's question was fully answered...so again, here's a quick (newbie) question for those who root but keep the stock ROM: can apps be moved to the SD card in that case? Or do I need to break out of stock ROM to do that?
Thanks in advance!
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If your'e just talking about music, you can put it in any folder and any structure you'd like. The Android Media Server process scans your entire SD card for media (including music) except for folders with a ".nomedia" file in them. It will use the tags to identify the artist, song, and album, then sort them based on that information.
Flame Red said:
Wanted to report back that I tried a simple case of using Directory Bind for something non-critical as a test. Used it to remount Titaniumn Backup to the external SD. Yes, I know you can just point it there. Just wanted to test Directory Bind.
It seemed to work until I rebooted the phone. Then it lost all the binding even tough I had checked off to save it for reboot and saved the binds to a file. So just beware that if you were using Directory Bind for something critical - you might have to recover the phone! I removed the package for now.
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bummer

don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!

wase4711 said:
don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!
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Click to collapse
11GB is a lot (available to start with on the ATT model) if you use the external for media (and app cache) and leave the internal for apps mainly...agreed.
Most apps are small in size...however, one app like NOVA3 is 2GB and that is a big bite of your 11GB available, so that is a little concerning
I haven't had the device or android long enough to know, but, are app databases and cache allowed to reside on the external card --in lue of the ability to move apps to the SD being taken away since Jelly Bean (was it at that update)? Can someone point to a good thread on the reason and discussion about that? Thanks.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994046
App2SD change external to internal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
You can make your external your main storage device by using this root technique. But some people don't advise it saying it slows down your processing on apps.

wase4711 said:
don't bother moving any apps to the external sd, since you have TONS OF ROOM in your internal memory on this phone..On the original note, I had over 300 apps installed on the internal, and still had over 5 gigs of room left..
just keep your music, movies, pictures, and other space hogs on it..trust me, leaving apps alone will never be a problem when you have a phone with this much storage space!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note II is a Unified Storage device. It has 11gb available for both user content (pictures, movie, music etc) and apps. I lost 2gb of space moving from my S2 to the N2.
S2 is not a Unified storage device, so it has 11gb of storage available for user content and a separate Apps partition of 2gb.

Partition Sizes

Curious if anyone has modified the partition table on the device? With the System taking up 4 some gigs... seems silly not to shrink it down a bit for more app usage. Any thoughts on this one or am I just thinking silly on it?

I think the same but i found nothing. I flashed a debloated rom for the 10.1 and now have 1.2GB free on system parts. I used titanium backup to transfer some app from data to system but it's boring. But it's nothing compared to my MicroSD card memory

eowindel said:
I think the same but i found nothing. I flashed a debloated rom for the 10.1 and now have 1.2GB free on system parts. I used titanium backup to transfer some app from data to system but it's boring. But it's nothing compared to my MicroSD card memory
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I did transfer some apps over as well, or in reality can remove them because they sit on the SD partition because of updates (really wish it would just update to system by default). I know moving some updates over just screws it up, let alone just moving screws up the icons on the desktop portion.
I don't have a de-bloated rom right now. The way I see it, its being used or wasted at this point. Apps don't seem to be slowing it down, though im sure a few are running in the background, but nothing that has hampered battery life like my previous Nexus 7 (2013). This seems to do much better at not wasting power. Guess im not being as picky as I use to with random apps chewing up space.
I would of jumped all over a 32GB edition from the get go. Paired with a 64GB SD card, its win win. Even now it is, just can't install everything I want to in 1 go since most apps still are stored locally on the main internal SD Partition and can't be transferred over. I can live with it, and im sure someone will figure it out. I know I use to do it with an old phone that had, next to no internal memory (a loong time ago). PITA to update, but well worth being able to use the phone.

You can use FolderMount [ROOT] to create a symbolic link between internal SD card and external to move your application.
For example if you want your google offline music on sdcard you can mount /sdcard/android/data/com.google.android.music on external sdcard.
It is possible to do it for every folder so it solves the problem :highfive:

eowindel said:
You can use FolderMount [ROOT] to create a symbolic link between internal SD card and external to move your application.
For example if you want your google offline music on sdcard you can mount /sdcard/android/data/com.google.android.music on external sdcard.
It is possible to do it for every folder so it solves the problem :highfive:
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Yeah just read into that. Thanks for the link so it reminds me.
Course, internal storage is always faster But for music/movies obviously SD Card just works fine with that.